"Fire Claw" Tiger Crab - Cherax alyciae var. "Fire Claw"

The Fire Claw is a great location variety of Cherax alyciae. With its incredibly intense colors, this beautiful colorful crayfish is one of the most beautiful varieties of the interesting Blue Kong crayfish. It used to be considered a variant of Cherax peknyi. The bright blue to dark blue-black claws of Cherax alyciae "Fire Claw" are fringed laterally on the outside by a conspicuous fiery red to orange-yellow stripe. The claw arms are bright red to dark blue in color. Males also have white claw blisters on the sides of the claws. The carapace of the Fire Claw is intense blackish blue with small light spots. The abdomen of the Cherax alyciae Fire Claw is dark blue with almost white narrow transverse bands on each segment. The legs are bright blue and have orange joints. At about 12-14 cm in body length, the Fire Claw tends to be a medium-sized crayfish.

In the male Fire Claw, the paired sexual openings are located between the attachments of the 3rd pair of legs, while in females the two gonopores are found between the fifth pair of walking legs.

Cherax alyciae "Fire Claw" can be socialized with peaceful, more surface oriented ornamental fish as well as with dwarf shrimp. Snails are part of the natural diet of Cherax alyciae "Fire Claw", they are therefore very happy to crack and eat them. Large crayfish should never be socialized with other crayfish species or color variants of the same species to avoid unpleasant mixing and to avoid fights to the death. Please make sure that the Fire Claw definitely does not come into contact with American crayfish or even the water in which they are kept. There is a risk of crayfish plague transmission here. The Fire Claw also does not get along well with crabs, large-armed shrimp, and fan shrimp; again, do not socialize them.

A pair of the intensively colored Fire Claw crayfish can be kept in an aquarium with an edge length of 80 cm or more. The tank for the crayfish must be furnished in a varied way, so that they have numerous hiding places and escape possibilities as well as climbing possibilities by roots and stones. Cherax alyciae, like Cherax peknyi, does not nibble excessively on plants, therefore robust and well growing aquarium plants can be established. Cherax alyciae sometimes digs tunnels, so furnishings must be secured against undermining. The aquarium must be covered without gaps - Cherax alyciae "Fire Claw" climbs well and also likes to explore its environment in nature.

The Fire Claw can be kept in a wide range of water values. A pH between 6.5 and 8 and a permanent water temperature between 20 and 25 °C without outliers up or down are ideal.

The Cherax alyciae Fire Claw is quite easy to breed. The female Cherax alyciae carry their eggs under their abdomen until after six weeks the 40 to 80 young crayfish hatch. After that they stay with their mother under the pleon, until they start to hatch themselves a few days later. The juveniles of the Fire Claw do not grow very fast. Because not only the adult crayfish prey on the juveniles, but also the young crayfish are very cannibalistic, many good hiding places must be offered in the separate rearing tank. A layer of brown fall foliage not only provides hiding places, but also a permanent food source.

Young Cherax alyciae "Fire Claw" are omnivores and need a good portion of food of animal origin, while adult Fire Claw need to be fed mostly vegetable food to prevent molting problems.

Our food recommendation: Freshwater crayfish have a very varied diet in the wild. The Natureholic Crab Feed Sticks contain in a biologically balanced form only those ingredients that these crayfish in this or similar form to their natural food spectrum. This naturally supports and promotes moulting, growth and reproduction. Due to their protein content they are ideally suited for omnivorous crayfish of the genera Procambarus, Cambarus, Cambarellus, Astacus and the Cherax crayfish from Australia, which are basically omnivores that like to eat animal as well as vegetable food. The crayfish of the genus Cherax from Papua also like to eat a portion of animal food when they are young, but later they switch mainly to plant food.

Our plant recommendation: Use for planting NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planaria and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.